Training Forum: This is a discussion on whats the best excersise for hamstrings? within the Bodybuilding forums, part of the extensive steroid information at MESO-Rx; whats the best excersise for hamstrings? just a machine or what? and what about glutes?...
If you have access to a good glute ham raise machine, then this is one of the best. However, most gyms don't have them.
Also, good mornings are typically regarded as a lower back exercise, but if you do them right they will work the hell out of your hams. I think Freddy posted a good description of how to do these a while back. Try a search and see what you find.
Finally, RDL's (romanian deadlifts) are excellent. I prefer to do what Dr. Squat (Fred Hatfield) calls Keystone Deadlifts. A description of these can probably be found if you type this into google.
Leg curls are decent, but good mornings and RDL's are much better. Also, you won't get much transfer of strength from leg curls to your squat so IMO they are worthless as it is hard to have big hams without a big squat.
Hope this helped...if you have any more questions feel free to ask, but look for those two things first.
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What's money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do. --Bob Dylan
You forgot one....full squats. Nothing beats them. Nothing.
After full squats, if you do some heavy pulling (romanians, straight leg, regular conventional standing on a 2-3" box, etc) - you'll have all the hamstring size you need.
Glute hams, RHs, Goodmornings, are all excellent choices as well but should come after squatting and pulling.
Yeah, I've got one too and absolutely love it. I love jacking it up the back on a 4 board and adding jumpstretch bands around my neck - oh man, seriously tough.
I just switched to full squats. they are a freakin killer and I had to check my ego at the door as I am struggling with 155 for 5x5 but hey my knees feel better and a few more weeks should help out.
Good mornings are basically stiff legged deadlifts right? Man I tried them today and they are killer too.
My foo foo gym doesn't seem to have a box i could use for deadlifts, but I will figure something out.
man I have been working out as hard as i can for a couple years but just recently started with the basic lifts and the 5x5 routine. Man if I had had this a couple years ago i never would have touched the juice. One thing is for sure i am not using anymore until I have run this routine into the ground.
if your squatting and deadlifting, or squatting and cleaning, and doing these things with decent form, theres not a lot of reason to do a ton of "direct" hamstring work.
normally, your form on the clean or deadlift will tell you if you need more hamstring work. if so, the best things to try are glute ham raises, reverse hypers, or some sort of romanian deadlift or stiff leg deadlift.
obviously some people will think that this is too much emphasis on strength for one who is most interested in getting big... however, in my experience, getting the squat up, or more importantly, raising the weight with which you can do a high volume of squats, correlates really well with gains in muscular bodyweight.
so designing your leg routine with at least some thought as to what is going to help raise squat weights, as well as deadlift weights, is not out of line for a guy who is just wanting to get bigger.
I believe Mel Siff said once that the Bulgarians would do BB step ups on a high box for hamstring work. In fact, some say that they drastically decreased their squat volume over time in favor of heavy step ups. I will look through my files, as there was even an interview with one of the lifters who said this.
Basically, your step up height was determined by the strength of your quads and hams. If your quads were weak, then a lower box was used, if your hams were weak, then a higher box was used. I am not sure of the box height or anything, but they said the average lifter used a height which allowed his upper leg to be parallel to the ground (like most do anyway).
I am a bit skeptical, and so was Mel, but it's an idea nonetheless.
AM, you're right I left out squats and deadlifts...I figured that was obvious . However, you are correct...it is hard to find a guy who squats and deadlifts 500+ ass to grass with no ham development. Squat, deadlift, a supplementary exercise, maybe two, like RDL and GM, and your hams will grow.
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What's money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do. --Bob Dylan
the bulgarians weightlifters didnt do step ups. when spassov came here, he did a lot of touring and promoting. he said some things about step-ups. many people believed him, in fact, the story grew and grew on its own. but believe me, ive drank beer with several bulgarian coaches, including spassov, and im telling you this was and is a bullshit story.
It was Spassov who did the interview. I read this on Siff's Supertraining board, and indeed it was met with much skepticism by all. In fact, he contradicted himself in subsequent interviews by talking about the importance of squats in the Bulgarian "system." WTF??
Anyway, I think we are all in agreement here that you need to squat big, deadlift big, and maybe some supplemental exercises like RDL's, GM's, and GHR's to get well-developed hamstrings. Leg curls just won't cut the mustard, leave those for the pencilnecks.
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What's money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do. --Bob Dylan
whats the best excersise for hamstrings? 
. However, you are correct...it is hard to find a guy who squats and deadlifts 500+ ass to grass with no ham development. Squat, deadlift, a supplementary exercise, maybe two, like RDL and GM, and your hams will grow.
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